Preamble.
Prehistory as Daterminative Factor of History |
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Striking results of the studies of Prehistoric ethnogenetical processes got interest neither by professionals nor by common public. On the one hand, they cause distrust because of contrary to some accepted views in science, and, on the other hand, the just subject may seem unimportant, as such, has no great significance for modern history and pressing problems of the world community. Actually it is not so. As the oldest words lay the foundations of language and significantly affect also its further development, as ethnopsychological features of different nations laid in ancient times are such basis, which on was developed their national character, mental, attitudinal characteristics which distinguish them from each other and determined their historical successes or failures. Tracking up the history of individual nations since their birth to the present time, we can get closer to understanding the historical development. It is clear that having false imagination of prehistory of these people we come to a false conclusion. Let's show an example of Europeans as the prehistory of their ancestors to a large extent determined the course of world history. It is no secret that the development of capitalism and the associated global geopolitical processes have their roots in the depths of Western Europe.
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But a thousand years ago nothing still foreshadowed that Europe should play a crucial global role. Contemporaries thought that the Roman Empire collapsed forever, and its descendant Byzantium could not withstand the onslaught of the Muslim world, which in addition to military success also showed great cultural and scientific achievements. And just understanding of some of an European community didn't exist, Islam was opposed by "Christian world". The idea of a common European identity began to develop after 1453, when there were two significant events at once - the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, and the Hundred Years War between France and England was over in Western Europe. Awareness of threats which could be resisted by the leading European countries together in condition of peace on the continent. Moreover, soon began a period of great discoveries that brought Europeans awareness of distinct difference between them and the rest of the world.
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At the same time Russia, the Ottoman Empire and Mughal Empire also expanded their holdings, which generally reflected the internal logic of world history, but further geopolitical transformation was caused mainly by aggressive policies of the Europeans. The behavior of the conquerors had no great differences anywhere. All the gains were accompanied by the same injustice, oppression and annihilation of the local population, but only in Europe such cruel behavior angered some intellectuals. The first to raise his voice in defense of the Indians and against methods of their Christianization was a Spanish theologian and jurist Francisco de Vitoria (1486-1546), who also denied the right of the Pope to distribute land in the New World between Christians. His successor Bartolome de las Casas (1484 - 1566)wrote in a letter to Emperor Charles V the following:
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The cause for which the Christians have slain and destroyed so many and such infinite numbers of souls, has been simply to get, as their ultimate end, the Indians' gold of them, and so stuff themselves with riches in a very few days, and so raise themselves to high estates - without proportion to their birth or breeding, it should be noted - owning to the insatiable greed and ambition that they have had, which has been greater than any the world has ever seen before... All the Indians of all the Indies never once did aught hurt or wrong to Christians, but rather held them to be descended from heaven, from the sky, until many times they or their neighbours received from the Christians many acts of wrongful harm, theft, murder, violence, and vexation... BARTLOMĖ de las CASAS. A short Account of the Destruction of the Indies,1542 |
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Among the followers of Francisco de Vitoria was also the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius, who is considered to be a founder of modern international law. These facts testify a certain trend of European intellectual elite to limit the policy by legal and ethical standards. But not to say that this trend prevailed in the minds of Europeans. It led the way into the atmosphere prevailing Catholic probabilism of inner world at that time. Shortly before the voyage of Columbus papal inquisition was reorganized in Spain and its work took violent form in fanatic fight with heresy. And these forms were seen in the public consciousness as completely normal and even have been popular among the masses of Spain Christians.
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Perhaps uncommon aspiration to follow legal norms, tolerance in public life reflected a feature available among Europeans, which can be grateful for the development of humanistic ideas that originate in Europe since the Renaissance. Born in the minds of brilliant thinkers, they nevertheless found enough wide feedback. We have seen nothing similar in civilizations of other worlds. One might think that the humanist idea may be associated with the Christian doctrine widely accepted in Europe, but we can also assume that the spread of Christianity in Europe is associated with psychological archetype of Europeans. This religion despite efforts of missionaries was not heavily accepted in civilized countries of Asia. Heinrich Heine said once that the ultimate fate of Christianity depends whether people need it or not. Obviously not all needed. Presently it is inadmissible to make criticisms toward any people, but more recently researchers have resorted to a rather broad generalizations in the evaluation of non-European peoples: |
Either by its own genius or as an effect of immensity, China (and I mean the old China, of course) lacked both the inclination and the impetus for deep renovation... It was ... an incredibly refined civilization, admittedly, but unchanged as to method since its beginning, like the writing which betrays the fact so ingenuously. Well into the nineteenth century it was still Neolithic, not rejuvenated, as elsewhere, but simply interminably complicated in on itself, not merely continuing on the same lines, but remaining on the same level, as though unable to lift itself above the soil where it was formed.
And while China, already encrusted in its soil, multiplied its gropings and discoveries without ever taking the trouble to build up a science of physics, India allowed itself to be drawn into metaphysics, only to become lost there. India -- the region par excellence of high philosophic and religious pressures: we can never make too much of our indebtedness to the mystic influences which have come down to each and all of us in the past from this 'anticyclone'. But however efficacious these currents for ventilating and illuminating the atmosphere of mankind, we have to recognize that, with their excessive passivity and detachment, they were incapable of building the world. The primitive soul of India arose in its hour like a great wind but, like a great wind also, again in its hour, it passed away. How indeed could it have been otherwise? ...
(TEILHARD de CHARDIN. Le Phénomène Humain, Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1956, 234-235) |
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If you perceive a difference in ethnopsychology of Europe and the East, and from this point of view look at the historical events of the ancient world, it can be noted that in contrast to the traditional despotic of Asian monarchs, invaders who came from Europe to Asia at the beginning of the first millennium AD demonstrated a softer form of government. The Persians, having won all the Near East, joined him in the same empire that represented a "the synthesis of Near Eastern political and cultural traditions under a single government that achieved stability not through military terror but through toleration" (HOLISTER C. W. Roots of the Western Tradition, 1991, pp. 57). In particular, Jews were allowed to return to their homeland what allowed them to retain national and religious identity, so important for the subsequent history of mankind. Some Egyptian and Greek temples were restored too. The Persian "King of Kings" does not claim to divine origin, but only divine appointment. Though they had absolute hereditary power, but the state apparatus was added by council represented by seven noble persons, and the governors of provinces had large powers, although their rule was watched by special inspectors - the "eyes and ears of the King." Thus we see an example of this sate building not only a manifestation of tolerance, but also democracy, unknown in other Asian countries. This difference in the form of government is evident due to the difference in mentality and psychology of those European and Asian nations.
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Developing the ideas of ancient philosophers, European scientists look for origins of differences in national character of different peoples in the reaction of people on the effects of the environment since the days of Charles-Louis Montesquieu (1689 - 1755), initially only in the climate, and later in other geographical conditions. Henry Thomas Buckle (1821 - 1862) distinguished three types of environments including natural conditions - climate, soil fertility, landscape, nature coast, etc., which he regarded as crucial factors in the formation of psychic and physical structure of man and its social organization. Civilization developed successfully where people could successfully resist the forces of nature, ie mainly in the middle zone with limited food resources. Here in the fight against hunger and cold, man had invented new means of production, management methods, technologies and materials what intensified its various activities and developed flexibility of mind.
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Nothing new has been demonstrated by modern philosophers in their theories of environmental influences on the development of civilizations. For example, Yuri Pavlenko comes to the trivial conclusion that the conditions for the beginning of civilization process could arise only in societies that lived in the subtropical-temperate zone (PAVLENKO Y.V. History World Civilization. 2004, 172). However, recognizing the role of the natural environment in the formation of mental and physical qualities, we can not forget about heredity. Environment can help or hinder the spread among people genetically determined traits of the physical structure and the character and, in fact, that's why descendants of subtropical-temperate zone played decisive role in history. This is especially true for Europeans, so scientists are looking for the causes of their leadership, particularly in the economic geography and economic history.
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Yuri Pavlenko restoring picture of social relations, beliefs and forms of cultural life of the ancient Indo-Europeans goes on to state that their "economic activity was focused mainly on livestock." (Ibid. 229). He explains the expansion of pastoralist Indo-Europeans using horses in search of new pastures. Horse riding, assaults on neighbors in order to cattle rustling led to a redistribution of wealth, social stratification, arising tribes under the leadership of chiefs, who were also priests. It is clear that such way of life should form at pastoral psychological other features than those which, let us say, farmers had. When it turns out that the ancient Indo-Europeans were never pastoralists, this implies two things. First, livestock itself does not develop features characteristic for the Indo-Europeans, especially as other nations, which in ancient times were engaged in livestock undoubtedly, exhibit features different from the Indo-Europeans. Second, certain features of the Indo-Europeans have to have another explanation.
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According to the results of studies the Indo-Europeans populated the basin of the middle and upper Dnieper at the 5th millennium BC. There were no conditions for the development of animal husbandry and agriculture but nevertheless the number of Indo-Europeans over time grew so that they began their expansion into Central and Southern Europe, Central and Minor Asia . Obviously, there were on their Urheimat enough food suppleis. Hunting could not provide such base, the more - gathering. It remains to assume that quantitative increase of the Indo-Europeans had to be obliged to fisheries, as there were here excellent conditions for its development.
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Let us imagine how the fisheries activities affects the development of psychological features of the people who made it. Natural resources were perceived by man other than products of their own production, especially when they had enough of them. If the products of agriculture and animal husbandry are closely connected with the production and form the concept of property that needs to be protected from the encroachment of aggressive or envious neighbors, the fish stocks of the rivers and lakes are perceived by people as a gift from heaven and man might not fight for the possession of which with the neighbor because the fishing reserves were rich on that territory. This situation does not develop aggressiveness in people rather led to the formation of relatively peaceful character traits. Fishing can be practiced both individually and collectively. Such activity forms in humans traits of independence, self-sufficiency, and at the same time teaches to join efforts for achieving a common goal. In such circumstances, the role of a leader in the economic life is significantly reduced. But a person can exercise his leadership skills in the spiritual realm. Hence interweaving of secular and spiritual power follows, what about Yuri Pavlenko wrote, but does not explain its reasons.
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Here just oportunely to go to another feature of the Europeans, which may be described as rationalism. It is said a lot about by Max Weber in his work "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism". However, he emphasizes that rationality can appear in different forms and spheres of human activity. He mentions rationalism of economy, technology, research, education, war, law, management, said on the rational use of capital and the distribution of wealth, and stresses that rationalism is a historical concept, which contains "a world of opposites". In his view, rationality in various forms is common to all Europeans, but life can be rationalized from the different points of view, so it shares the rationalism of the Catholic and Protestant worlds of Europe. If rationalization of private law, based on Roman law, is taking root in the Catholic countries of Southern Europe, the extrinsic Catholics tendency to economic rationalism showed Protestants in Northern Europe. Pointing to the success of the Protestant nations and the predominance of Protestants among the owners of capital, entrepreneurs, higher qualified sections of the workers, he comes to the conclusion that the reason for this is the Protestant ethic.
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However, M. Weber emphasizes that Protestantism of its founders that is of Luther, Calvin, Knox and Foet was very far from what is now called the "progress"(MAX WEBER The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 94). This suggests that the successful development of capitalism in the Nordic countries is not related to the transition to Protestantism but to the rationalism of a special kind, which occurred in the more northern peoples, and distinguished itself as in spiritual and material spheres, because this must be recognized that the Protestant church is more "rational" than the Catholic. Heinrich Heine said in his work "On the History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany" that Christianity in Europe adopted some form according to folk belief that preceded it. In the north, on the whole it was more pantheistic than in the south having the deification of many phenomena and elements of nature. The adoption of Christianity transformed the deified nature in a demonic one. However, if in the cheerful by its nature South this transformation could not be easily and to the end perceived, the devil's world in the North has become as harsh and gloomy, just like the northern nature. Just the difference in the views of the Antichrist, according to Heine, was the reason of the rise of the Reformation. (HEINRICH HEINE. Zur Geschichte der Religion und Philosophie in Deutschland. Verlag Philipp Reclam jun. Leipzig, 60-70). Similarly, harsh environmental conditions and climate have shaped such public consciousness at the peoples of Northern Europe is, where the rational component was more pronounced than that of the peoples of the South.
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Indo-Europeans settled on the wide spaces of Europe and Asia at different times, and folk's beliefs were also arisen at different times and in different environmental conditions, what explains the available difference in the ethno-psychlogy of different European nations. Also in the process of resettlement,Indo-Europeans absorbed more or less other ethnic groups of other cultural tradition, in other places they have been assimilated among the indigenous population. So now we can not talk about some common psychological features of Europeans, we can only say that some of them have a more pronounced than in other nations, and some part of the Europeans can show features generally not expressed in others. For example, the brutal founder of the Spanish Inquisition Torquemada Tommaso came from the new Christians, that is European in origin was not.
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Perhaps the Europeans have another feature, which can generally be described as restlessness, desire for new search and discovery. In particular, it was clearly shown during the Period of Great Discoveries. Gunnar Heinson connecting activity of the Portuguese and Spaniards at this time with a phenomenon, which he calls the youth bulges that is an excess in especially young adult male population. Endowed with energy and ambition, "excess number of young people with the same success, as always, leads to bloody expansions, as well as to the creation and destruction of empires" (Gunnar Heinson. Söhne und Weltmacht, 11).He proves by numerous examples of different times for different people this thesis and it looks pretty convincing, but for Europeans, this explanation is not always convincing. For example, from the late 16th century and in the next the Russian Cossacks conquered vast areas of Siberia and the Far East without much of a reason at whereas they could use their energy for other purposes. Moreover, no violation of the demographic structure of the population in Russia at that time was not observed. In contrast, China, where the demographic imbalance was common in ancient times, never intended to conquer neighboring northern lands. This feature of the Europeans, if it indeed have a place, also would have to have some sort of explanation in the natural environment, but let's leave that question open.
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Ideas that originated in Europe, are perceived and spread throughout the world and in Europe itself they are developing and taking new forms. Currently, however, Europe is experiencing a certain moral crisis and we can assume that some of the old, but carried to extremes and absolutes ideas become threatening, so the future of the world is uncertain and it is possible that soon not Europeans or even Americans will play a key role but the peoples of other continents, showing features not found in most people of European descent. Understanding the patterns of development of the individual components in the spiritual sphere of different people based on their history can help predict the future of humanity and make the necessary adjustments in the basis of social behavior of the individual, and in the planning of the development of individual nations by their intellectual elite.
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